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\u201cIt\u2019s one of the hardest things I do \u2014 and that\u2019s true of any conductor.\u201d The admission comes from conductor Emil de Cou, and the subject may come as something of a surprise \u2014 live music performed alongside a movie screening.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a form of symphonic performance that is becoming more and more popular across North America and in Toronto in particular. The TSO programs well-attended movie and live orchestra performances, and Attila Glatz Concert Productions presents the Cinematic Concert Series partnered with the Sony Centre. Torontonians, it seems, have a healthy appetite for classic movies and live orchestral pairings.<\/p>\n
Andrea Warren is VP Marketing & Project Development at Attila Glatz Concert Productions, one of the first companies to jump head first into the movies and music production biz. \u201cWe jumped on this exciting bandwagon in 2014,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s something we were fascinated in the moment we heard about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Licensing agreements are negotiated by the industry, making a list of titles available for the live music treatment at any given time. \u201cWe can cherry pick,\u201d Warren says. Based in Toronto, Attila Glatz Concert Productions deals with productions in 25 different cities at any given time, and several different film titles, including The Godfathe<\/em>r, and Gladiator<\/em>.<\/p>\n Movie music, to some, may not occupy as high a place in the musical spectrum as the usual classical fare on offer at the TSO. But, Gary Hanson, TSO\u2019s Interim Chief Executive Officer, isn\u2019t having any of it. \u201cIt\u2019s misplaced criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n Hanson previously worked with the Cleveland Orchestra, where he remembers programming live orchestral performances with movie screenings as long as a decade ago. Those early performances featured silent movies that were, in fact, originally screened with live music. \u201cIt\u2019s worth noting that this is as old as films,\u201d he says. The TSO\u2019s love affair with movies began several years ago with screenings from the Toronto International Film Festival, and the numbers show that it\u2019s growing in popularity. \u201cGenerally, the film score presentations sell out.\u201d<\/p>\n The TSO selects its projects based largely on musical criteria. \u201cIt\u2019s on the basis of the richness of the orchestral score,\u201d Hanson explains.<\/p>\n Emil de Cou took up the baton for the TSO\u2019s performance of The Wizard of Oz <\/em><\/a>in February 2018.<\/em> Along with occasional guest conducting gigs, the American conductor is the music director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, and has served as the principal conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Wolf Trap performances for many years. The NSO performed the world premiere live performance of The Wizard of Oz<\/em> at Wolf Trap in 2006.<\/p>\n Maestro de Cou remembers his first time. \u201cIt was the single most difficult thing I\u2019d done.\u201d<\/p>\n He points out a number of challenges. With an older film like Wiz<\/em>, there is no click track; as the conductor, he views the movie as the audience does. At the top of each page of the score, the timing is noted. The performance must coincide with the action of the film to within one-quarter of a second, or the lag becomes noticeable.<\/p>\n Some challenges are specific to the movie. Maestro de Cou points to the difficulty in places like the Munchkin song in the Wizard of Oz<\/em> score. The vocals were actually recorded in a lower range, and then sped up to achieve that distinctive Munchkin sound.<\/p>\n There are also technical issues. The TSO, for example, is a much larger orchestra than the one that played on the soundtrack in 1939. Some sections of a score may have been played originally with only a small ensemble, and the instrumentation can be challenging. \u201cTrying to control this big orchestra, as it needs to be to fill a concert hall, adds another layer.\u201d The film edits he works with often contain small errors that can affect timing by that all-important quarter-second or more.<\/p>\n Hearing the score performed live can illuminate musical detail. \u201cThere are still thing you can hear with live performance that you can\u2019t hear in the movie.\u201d He points to a section of the Wizard<\/em> score that calls for an alto flute. In the movie, the music is overwhelmed with the sounds of a storm, and barely noticeable.<\/p>\n Andrea Warren notes the difficulty of the Harry Potter<\/em><\/a> series in particular. \u201cThis is one of the only shows the musicians take the scores home to practice,\u201d she says. \u201cThis music is nothing to laugh at.\u201d The Glatz Cinematic Concert Series is presenting all eight of the Harry Potter <\/em>movies. \u201cFor the players, this is every bit as challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n John Williams is the household name of contemporary movie music composers. Everyone knows the iconic themes of Star Wars<\/em> and his many other movie scores, but not so many are aware that the rest of the music is atmospheric and often complex. \u201cJohn Williams makes the orchestra a character in the movie,\u201d Hanson says. \u201cThey make musical effects to highlight the tiniest details.\u201d<\/p>\n Live performance puts the music literally and figuratively centre stage. \u201cWe\u2019re shining a spotlight on the score,\u201d Hanson says. \u201cThe Birds<\/em> would not be a terrifying movie without the score.\u201d<\/p>\n As Warren points out, \u201cIf music is written well, it underpins the drama of the film.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt just adds an extra colour element,\u201d explains Maestro de Cou. Emotions are ramped up and the audience experience is more intense. He mentions viewing a concert performance of E.T<\/em>. at Kennedy Center Washington, DC. \u201cAt the end, everyone was in tears.\u201d It\u2019s the goal of a film composer. \u201cThey\u2019re all playing on emotions in a very deliberate way.\u201d<\/p>\n For Maestro de Cou, however challenging, the performances are a labour of love. \u201cI love the old films I grew up with. It becomes like a folktale or fairy tale.\u201d He cites E.T. The Extraterrestrial<\/em><\/a>, Jurassic Park<\/em>, and La La Land <\/em>as being recent favourites among the several titles he has conducted in similar performances. \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed every score I\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n Each requires a different approach. As he tells it, the first time he saw Jurassic Park<\/em>, he was struck by the fact that the pivotal attack scenes are run entirely without background music. \u201cThat would be a composer\u2019s dream,\u201d he says. But, sometimes there are other considerations. \u201cThere is a psychological effect in silence,\u201d he acknowledges.<\/p>\n Along with popularity and sold-out shows, there is the matter of audience development. Audiences for movie and music concerts attract an all-ages crowd. According to Maestro de Cou, \u201cIt\u2019s very hard in classical music to get that under-40 crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n In attracting a potentially younger crowd and newcomers to the orchestral concert scene, there is a spillover into mainstream symphonic concerts. \u201cYes, there is a proportion that first comes to a film score presentation that will come to another orchestral performance,\u201d Hanson reports.<\/p>\n Attila Glatz Concert Productions chooses its projects in partnership with the Sony Centre, looking at the Toronto audience, and considering both the movie and the musical score. \u201cIs that something Torontonians want to see again?\u201d As she points out, the shows involve concert ticket pricing, and not movie ticket pricing, so the movie needs to stand on its own.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a lot of people, it\u2019s their first time listening to an orchestral performance,\u201d Warren says. Glatz gets feedback from audiences in the forms of letters and emails, and first-timers are routinely impressed by the musical component. \u201cIt\u2019s eye-opening for our audiences for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s enthusiastic about the results. \u201cIt\u2019s ideal for performance, but it reaches so many people. No matter how good the sound system, there\u2019s nothing like it.\u201d For her, the experience boils down to an essential question. \u201cWhat role does music have in controlling our emotions? These performances show people.\u201d<\/p>\n Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and reviews before anyone else finds out? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>or\u00a0<\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The growing popularity of nostalgic flicks brought to life with a live orchestra has been gaining serious ground. We interviewed three major players behind this trend to find out exactly what’s going on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":51079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14761,4967,36,60],"tags":[16846,16845,16734,6315],"yst_prominent_words":[12010,6711,11993,16842,7202,12008,16719,16728,12009,12000,10704,10824,14411,16841,16840,16843,6616,7451,16844,11256],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/Orchestra-cash-cow-Ludwig_van.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-dhO","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51076"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51076"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51082,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51076\/revisions\/51082"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51076"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=51076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}LUDWIG VAN TORONTO<\/i>
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